Oats and oatmeal?

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Ridin' The Range
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So I know people feed their horses oats sometimes. Is oatmeal (just the meal and water) acceptable? If they like it, is it okay to give them? I was thinking it would be a nice meal for cold mornings, a warmed up oatmeal and their hay. But if it would hurt them then I'm not going to.
 

MDres

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Generally, cost is a factor in why people don't feed "oatmeal" to horses. But there is no reason why you cannot purchase a 50# bag of cleaned steamed rolled (or crimped) oats from the feed store. Soak it for a bit in hot water, and you'll have an affordable version of "hot oatmeal" for horses.

A lot of people make mashes in cold weather with wheat bran. We used to, but we found out that it is not a good idea, nutritionally. Horses need a Ca:p ratio of 2:1, and wheat bran totally skews that ratio up - even to the point that it can be fatal for the horse. Nutritional content and ratios are something to be aware of when you are feeding "raw" grains to horses vs. a processed/complete feed.
 

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Okay, thank you. And that's what I meant; a mash, not the "human" type of oatmeal. It would only be in small amounts though; everything must be in balance.
 

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